Quito Restaurants

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Tianguez is a café/restaurant with a good location on Plaza San Francisco. It is situated in the stone arches below the Monastery of San Francisco. I came here because I wanted to sit outside to eat and from the tables at the outdoor area there is a good view over the plaza and what is going on there.

The first time I was here I ordered a coca-cola and Seco de Chivo con papas fritas. Seco de Chivo is a traditional goat stew, here served with a touch of passion fruit. It tasted very good, but I was a bit disappointed that it didn’t come with French fries as it said in the menu, but instead was served with rice and three slices of boiled potato.
The coca-cola (0.5l in a plastic bottle) was $1.20 and the food $6.10. With tax and service it was $9.03 (June 2011).

I came back in August and that time I wanted a big portion of meat, so I ordered the Lomo Cordon Blue, which was served with French fries and some salad. It was delicious. To drink I had a glass of guanabana jucie. This meal, with tax and service, was $14.03 (August 2011), which makes it the second most expensive meal I had in Ecuador.

Tianguez has also got a large souvenir shop with pricey, but good quality artefacts from all over Ecuador.

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Fruteria Monserrate is situated just a block away from the hotel were I stayed in Quito, so on my first day in Ecuador I went there for an early lunch. I had heard they have a good Locro de papas with avocado and cheese, but when I arrived at 11.00 it was not ready yet, so I ordered Locro de papas con almejas (mussels) for $1.50 and an orange juice for $1.35 (June 2011). The soup tasted good, and I must say it tasted better than the Locro de papas with avocado and cheese, which I had another day. I also came here once to have a fruit salad. I ordered the fruit salad with yoghurt and it came with the yoghurt and jam on the side. That was good because I wouldn’t have liked jam on the fruit salad. The fruit salad which was rather big was $3.50.

Fruteria Monserrate is not a cosy place and I don’t like the interior, which have steal tables and chairs, large concrete pillars and brick walls. There is always an armed guard at the restaurant.
On weekdays Fruteria Monserrate opens at 8.30 in the morning.

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So glad we found this place. All of our food was very good and totally cheap! There are not too many tradional options, but still very highly recommended.

Favorite Dish: The "Fried Bananas Dessert" is amazing. Make sure you save room.

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At the airport in Guayaquil I had eaten a yummy cheesecake at La Española, so when I in Mariscal passed a La Española I thought it would be a good place to have something quick and light to eat. I ordered a Combo Completo for $4 (August 2011). Included in the Combo Completo was a salad, a baugette with cheese and ham, crisps and a small 7-up. The bread had a very dry thick crust and everything was served on Styrofoam plates, and the knife and fork for the salad were made of plastic. I did not like the fact that my meal left so much garbage and I thought I would never eat anything at La Española again.

However, the next week when I visited the shopping mall Centro Comercial Quicentro I bought a coffee and a cheesecake at the La Española cafeteria there. It was $3.95. The cheesecake was not the same sort as the one I had eaten in Guayaquil and it was not as good.

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Climbing up the church tower of Basílica del Voto Nacional I was surprised to first come to a souvenir shop and then to a café. I decided to sit down in the café and have a cappuccino as it was quiet and the view was great over the old town and Panecillo. The cappuccino was $2.65 (July 2011). In the café you can also have other drinks and snacks.

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El Cafeto is a small café on Chile, not far from where I stayed. They serve breakfast, snacks like sandwiches and humitas, cakes and different coffee and tea. The coffee they serve is made by organic Ecuadorian beans. When I visited in June I came here a few times to rest from all sight seeing . This is what I paid in June 2011:
White chocolate cake $1.95
Cappuccino $2.50
Guayaba juice (with milk) $1.99
Cheese cake and herbal tea $ 3.80

In August I came back a few times to eat breakfast. It was a very good breakfast with good coffee and bread, eggs and a fruit juice. The breakfast was $3.25 (August 2011). The café doesn’t open until 8.30 so it is a bit too late for breakfast though, but at my hotel the coffee tasted more like coloured water, so I went here instead.

The food is cheap and good, and the staff is friendly. They serve salads, sandwiches, ice cream concoctions.

The one we went to is in Plaza Fochs. There are other locations around town also.

Favorite Dish: I had a big green salad with lots of ham and cheese for $3.50 (and an ice cream freeze with Baileys in it--Yum! Another $3.50 for it.)

This is a great steak restaurant that we only discovered the night before we left Quito. I wish we'd found it sooner! The food is very good .
It is quiet and nicely decorated, with nice tablecloths and carved chairs.

I was so busy eating that I forgot to take pictures.

Favorite Dish: We had a delicious (and large) steak dinner for about $10 each, and the beef was tender. They have meals for 2-4 people, served family style. We had more salad and other accompanyments than we could finish.